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So after looking for a number of months I finally found blinds that were almost a dead match for the paint on the opposite wall. They are a dark burgundy red and when the lights are on they look almost indistinguishable from the wall paint. How ever during the day there is a large amount of stray light entering the room with the blinds down. I keep the blinds down almost all of the time, actually I haven't even had them open since having them for the past 3 months. I have a black diamond screen so even with this stray light there is no problem seeing the screen, however is does bug me and I would like it pitch black. Any ideas how to block out this stray light from in between the blinds?

I will also have this problem with my windows, as the wife wants white blinds to match the rest of the house, and doesn't see the stray light as a problem (yet). I wanted IR remote controlled powered grey fabric roman shades (approx $350 each at home depot, Hampton Bay, custom ordered for 6'W x 2'H windows) that I could control with the Harmony remote, but it's still a no go.

I was thinking of using some trim all around the perimeter of the window between the window pane and the blind. The blinds I'll be getting do not have holes in the middle of the blades for the strings to pass through and the strings are instead wrapped around the front and back of notched blind blades. Yours appear to be similar. I'll need something taller though for the top of the window to overlap with the first blind blade. I'll have to mock something up first to see if it works, but I think it should. I'm a few months away from that stage yet.

Adding trim will help, but without a true edge-to-edge seal, you will get some light spill. If you add trim both 'inside' and 'outside' the blinds (so the blinds are in a channel) that will be pretty good. The tighter you can make that channel the better.

I spent hundreds on two custom sized black out blinds which leak light around the edges and I can count on one hand how many times a year I open. If I had to do it all over again I would have bought standard blinds and painted the windows with window paint to completely block out the light. Still going to paint the soon.

Just add a secondary blackout roller shade which has the side and bottom c-channels to completely block the light path and give you pure black without removing your custom-matched shades. The blackout roller shades could even be hidden behind some decorative molding above the window.

The only other straightforward option is blackout curtains that you can draw in front of the windows. But then you have to contend with a large amount of absorptive fabric on the one side of your room soaking up all the high frequencies....

Just add a secondary blackout roller shade which has the side and bottom c-channels to completely block the light path and give you pure black without removing your custom-matched shades. The blackout roller shades could even be hidden behind some decorative molding above the window.

The only other straightforward option is blackout curtains that you can draw in front of the windows. But then you have to contend with a large amount of absorptive fabric on the one side of your room soaking up all the high frequencies....

You think SOME high frequency absorption is a problem for most people ? They probably have too little rather than too much. Also curtains aren't that effective.

The key words were "on one side", DJkest. In other words, what is being heard by one ear toward the drapes would most certainly be different than what's coming into the other ear. Try it yourself with a quick setup and see....

Just add a secondary blackout roller shade which has the side and bottom c-channels to completely block the light path and give you pure black without removing your custom-matched shades. The blackout roller shades could even be hidden behind some decorative molding above the window.

+1

Like I said in post 3 roller blinds with side and bottom channels are the best way to ensure total blackout.